On
January 30, 2004, the Board of Directors of the Golden Gate Bridge,
Highway and Transportation District adopted a position of support
for Regional Measure 2, the Regional Traffic Relief Plan. Measure
2 is a regional effort to develop and fund transportation projects
with a $1 toll increase on State-owned Bay Area toll bridges (which
does not include the Golden Gate Bridge) and subject
to approval on March 2, 2004 by the voters of Alameda, Contra Costa,
Marin, San Mateo, Santa Clara and Solano counties and the City and
County of San Francisco.

Measure
2 would provide $125 million annually for local transportation improvements.
Over a 35-year period, the plan provides $3.1 billion in funding
for both capital and operating improvements. Funding
that would affect North Bay residents include:

PROJECT

FUNDING

DESCRIPTION

Regional Express Bus North

Approximately
$26 million over a ten-year period

At
least $1.6 million would go to fund capital improvements ranging
from park-and-ride lots, infrastructure improvements and rolling
stock (buses). An additional $2.1 million would go to partially
offset operating expenses for bus service over the Richmond-San
Rafael Bridge, connecting the San Rafael Transit Center to
BART destinations in the East Bay. Service is currently operated
by Golden Gate Transit as Routes 40 and 42 using a mixture
of regional funds. These operating
funds will increase at a rate of 1.5% annually to account
for cost increases, and over the 35-year period of the expenditure
plan, will provide approximately $80 million to the District.

U.S. 101 Greenbrae Interchange/Larkspur
Ferry Access Improvements

$65 million

Funds improvements around the Greenbrae
interchange to reduce traffic congestion and provide multimodal
access to the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge and Larkspur Ferry
Terminal. Specific improvements include:
- constructing a new full service diamond interchange at Wornum
Drive
- extending a multi-use pathway from the new interchange at
Wornum Drive to East Sir Francis Drake Blvd. and the Cal Park
Hill rail right-of-way
- adding a new lane to East Sir Francis Drake Blvd.
rehabilitating the Cal Park Hill rail tunnel and right-of-way
approaches for bicycle and pedestrian access to connect the
San Rafael Transit Center with the Larkspur Ferry Terminal.

New Transbay Terminal/Downtown Caltrain
Extension in San Francisco

$150 million

A new Transbay Terminal in San Francisco,
connecting AC Transit transbay buses and a Caltrain downtown
San Francisco extension with BART, Golden Gate Transit, Muni,
SamTrans, Greyhound and paratransit buses, as well as future
high-speed rail.

TransLink® Smart Card Integration

$22 million

Update the regions fare collection
system with TransLink technology, to enable customers to carry
one transit fare instead of exact change or operator-specific
tickets or passes. This would assist transit operators in integrating
TransLink technology with existing fare collection equipment
and in expanding TransLink to new transit services.

Real-Time Transit Information Program

$20 million

These funds would be allocated to develop
a regional Real-Time Transit Information Program, which would
inclde the implementation of high-technology systems to provide
real-time transit information to riders at transit stops and/or
via the telephone, wireless or internet communication.

Sonoma Marin Area Rail Transit (SMART)
Extension

$35 million

Extension of rail line from downtown
San Rafael to a ferry terminal at Larkspur or San Quentin. Up
to $5 million may be used to study the potential use of San
Quentin property as an intermodal water transit terminal.

Regional Transit Commute Benefits Promotion
Marketing Program

$5 million

To promote tax-saving opportunties for
employers and employees. The goal is to increase the participation
rate of employers offering employees a tax-free benefit to commute
to work by transit.